VCR tuner vs. All-in-Wonder tuner for capture

[theeht]

I read somewhere that it's better to use a vcr tuner than a computer tuner for capturing broadcast video. Is that correct, or does it depend upon the specifics? I have an ATI All-in-Wonder 128 32mb PCI card--I could either go straight into its cable input, or route the cable through my VCR and into the card's composite input. Thanks for any opinions.

[mrlipring]

try it both ways and see what gives best results. i think it's to do with interference.

[Arachnotron]

It depends on how your VCR is wired.

TV tuners internally always output composite video. If the tuner part of your VCR is better then the tuner on the card AND the composite out of the VCR is internally routed directly to its tuner you might get a better picture.

But if the VCR tuner output is internally passed throught the VCR's Y/C separation filter ( a VCR needs to separate Y and C to record) and Y and C are joined again later to generate an output composite signal you are worse off, since the signal would pass through two Y/C separation steps (the second one on the capture card)

Each Y/C separation gives a loss in picture quality. See the new doom9 capture guide for an explanation on this.

My guess is using the VCR tuner would only improve things with a very expensive high end S-VHS VCR using s-video to connect to the capture card. Then you would use the tuner in the VCR, use the Y/C filter in the VCR to generate a s-video signal and bypass the Y/C separation filters on the capture card.

[jggimi]

On-card tuners sometimes pick up interference from inside-the-PC components, such as the PCI bus, or motherboard components, or the CPU.

In those cases, outside-the-PC tuners can provide an advantage.